All the Single Ladies

by Natasha Moore

Best friends. Good friends. Old friends. New friends. We all need friends. Some of my favorite romance series have revolved around a group of women who have drawn together, offering help, support, and possibly alcoholic fortification for each other when life has thrown things their way.

Since I’m what is now considered “of a certain age” I find I’m embracing my women friends more than ever. I’ve lost some wonderful friends over the years for one reason or another, and the ones who remain are now even more special to me.

Most of the romance series I’ve written over the years have revolved around a group of heroes or members of a family, but after I finished my trilogy about the Colburn brothers of Lakeside, I knew I wanted to write a new series that took place in the same small town. The Colburn brothers’ cousin, Ginny, had appeared in all the Men of Lakeside books, and readers love her no-filter attitude, and were looking forward to her having her own story. And so the Single Ladies of Lakeside series was born.

At first, I was going to call the series the Single Ladies Wine Club. But wine club romance series seemed to be popping up everywhere lately and so I knew I should take a different direction. Not that my ladies don’t meet for wine. Of course, they do. They have Wine Nights. Wine Wednesdays sounded too cliché for them and besides, they want to be able to call for a get together with wine and munchies any time they wanted. Some good times, and some bad times, just call for wine and friends.

When there’s a call to celebrate, the ladies are there to cheer. When one of them has problems (often man-related), the others are there to listen to her, and isn’t that a great excuse to taste wines and pair them with cheese and crackers? Like true friends, they will always be on her side. They’ll be there to support and to sympathize – even if it’s through group texts. They may sometimes get the chance to live vicariously, like when one of them has a one-night stand with a sexy younger man. And the single ladies will always tell it like it is. Whether they want to hear it or not. They’ll always keep it real.

Of course, since these are romance novels, these three strong women will no longer be single by the end of the series. And that’s okay. Life is about change.

Ginny Colburn’s life is about to change, big time. She’s hit forty without the husband and kids she always wanted. But when the guy she dated for the past two years leaves her for his ex-wife, she swears off romantic relationships forever. She’s tired of it. She doesn’t need a man to make her happy. In fact, she’s glad to be a single lady.

Enter cute, young Josh Anderson, serving champagne at a party. A one-night stand with a guy who sets off all the right sparks is the perfect way to rebound. The sex was, of course, incredible and she really liked him, too, but she doesn’t expect to ever see him again. Until nausea and a quick check of the calendar has her freaking out. Of course, her ladies are right there with her while she waits for the results of the pregnancy test, and rally around her when she gets the news that she’s going to have the baby she’d thought she never would.

They’re beside her every step of the way as she unexpectedly falls for a younger man who’s not ready to settle down, who is, in fact, just setting out to make his mark on the world. They’re at completely different places in their lives. That should be okay, right? She doesn’t want a man in her life, anyway.

But life is about change and her single ladies are beside her every step of the way.

I’m working on the next Single Ladies of Lakeside book at the moment. It’ll be another fun but emotional book, with strong women and hot guys. With a small village on a lake in western New York. With a rumor mill that won’t quit. With a group of friends who’ll stick together no matter what life throws their way.

Some things don’t change.

How do you like to celebrate with your friends? Comment for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card.

Natasha